Had this laying around for a while, classic Olympic poster. This is a perfect example of how much the core ethics of design have changed. Take this one in, then have a look at these olympic logos…. what happened to design?

I am actually not as averse to the proposed London games logo as a lot of people. I think it is at least interesting and thought provoking. It’s definitely not my style, but I could see how it could be worked into a lot of promotional things, and that’s what it’s all about at the end of the day I guess, promoting awareness. But I definitely would love to see them go back to the simpler forms/colors of the past logos. Perhaps the younger generations just don’t appreciate the same simplicity and minimalism many of us were raised to recognize as “good design”.

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Pablo says:

Yeah the London one is whacked . Love that old moscow poster. Although being Australian I’ve gotta put a word in about the Aussie one… it contains icons of Australia that probably aren’t too obvious. The legs and arms are boomerangs, the body looks to be of an Aboriginal style, and the streak of blue traces the Sydney Opera House… it’s pretty well done. But still doesn’t carry the same poise as the solid moscow version…

Drew says:

Drew-
Even better point! Sorry, in my haste to find a site featuring those 3 particular logos I didn’t stop to check the overall content of the site. I posted my own mirror of the images and switched the link.

Or are we just being nostalgic for a design style we don’t see so much anymore? I suppose in the end of the 60s/70s, people might have been sick and tired of these sorts of designs, and we’ve just been away from those styles for so long that it seems fresh again?

Phil, I completely agree about the Vancouver logo. Not only did they misappropriate a First Nation’s symbol, the inukshuk (giving it a happy face!), but the symbol has nothing to do with Vancouver (the Inuit people who traditionally make inukshuk live thousands of miles away in the arctic). Sure, I know it’s about showcasing the whole country not just the host city, but Vancouver and the province of British Columbia has plenty of culture (including local aboriginal people) they could have drawn from… this one is just embarrassing.

I think it’s symptomatic of a lot of mainstream design. Loss of confidence in a simple solution. From design companies as well clients.
If this (the Montreal logo) was submitted to certain person of my acquaintance, the reaction would be “the background is boring and undifferentiating, can’t we make it a gradient? The symbol needs to be more impactful (read fatter). Can we get it rendered in 3D, to bring it to life? And a drop shadow.”
I won’t blame computers, they’re just a tool. It’s the tools sat in front of the computers and the even bigger tools standing in front of the clients.

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Jeremy says:

Re: the Chicago logo; the Chicago team did not have a choice but to change their logo; prospective cities are not allowed to use the Olympic torch as part of their logo. Chicago violated that very basic rule with their first logo, and were forced to change it. They chose a star reminiscent of the 4 stars on their city flag, with colors representing the Great Chicago Fire at the top, and Lake Michigan at the bottom.